By: TII team
Date: January 24, 2025
Masrour Barzani, the Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan Region, November 2024.
Photo: K24 TV
DAVOS,— Negotiations between Baghdad and British oil giant BP over a major redevelopment of Kirkuk’s oil and gas fields must include Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Kurdish caretaker Prime Minister Masrour Barzani told Reuters. The dispute underscores the ongoing tensions between Iraq’s central government and the Kurdish leadership over control of oil and gas resources.
Kirkuk, a region rich in hydrocarbons, remains at the heart of a long-standing conflict over natural resource management between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). The Kurds lost control of Kirkuk in 2017, after briefly seizing it during the fight against ISIS in 2014.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Barzani criticized the current deal being negotiated between Baghdad and BP. “The area that Baghdad is discussing with BP is a disputed territory. According to the Iraqi constitution, decisions regarding disputed territories cannot be made unilaterally by either Baghdad or Erbil,” he said.
While Barzani expressed openness to development in principle, he stressed that any deal must involve coordination with the KRG. “We are not against development, but we are against the mechanism being used,” he added, calling for a trilateral meeting involving the KRG, Baghdad, and BP.
A source familiar with the situation suggested that the KRG might independently meet with BP representatives to push for their involvement in the deal. The Kurds plan to use their strong ties with the U.S. government to apply pressure on both Baghdad and BP.
Baghdad and BP are reportedly close to signing a multi-billion-dollar agreement to redevelop four Kirkuk oil and gas fields, with an official signing anticipated by early February. However, Barzani labeled the potential agreement “unconstitutional,” even as he acknowledged the KRG’s limited ability to halt the deal.
Neither BP nor the Iraqi oil ministry immediately responded to Reuters’ requests for comment. Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani previously stated that the Kirkuk deal could exceed the scale of a $27 billion oil project with TotalEnergies in Basra, which was signed in 2023.
The Kirkuk oil fields, first discovered in the 1920s by a BP-led consortium, hold an estimated 9 billion barrels of recoverable oil. BP also operates in southern Iraq, where it owns a 50% stake in the giant Rumaila oil field.
However, disagreements over oil are not limited to Kirkuk. A separate conflict has halted oil exports from the Kurdistan region since March 2023. Turkey suspended the flow of oil through the KRG’s pipeline after the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Turkey to pay $1.5 billion to Baghdad for unauthorized Kurdish oil exports between 2014 and 2018.
KRG officials say the region has lost more than $20 billion in revenue since the pipeline closure, with no compensation from Baghdad. Barzani criticized Iraq’s federal government for failing to resolve the issue. “Iraq never compensated that lost money to Kurdistan, and so far, there has been no solution,” he said.
Barzani also condemned a recent amendment introduced by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to a draft bill meant to address the issue, calling it “totally unacceptable” to the Kurds.
The oil dispute comes amid broader concerns over governance and transparency in the Kurdish region. Observers and Kurdish politicians accuse the KRG of conducting oil deals in a secretive and opaque manner.
Critics allege that billions of dollars in oil revenue remain unaccounted for, with watchdogs labeling Iraqi Kurdistan as one of Iraq’s most corrupt regions. Analysts point to a lack of effective oversight mechanisms that have allowed illegal financial activities to thrive.
The Barzani family, which has long dominated Kurdish politics, faces accusations of nepotism and misusing oil revenues for personal enrichment. Masrour Barzani serves as the region’s prime minister, while his cousin Nechirvan Barzani is president. Masrour’s father, Massoud Barzani, remains a highly influential figure in Kurdish politics.
Despite these challenges, the KRG has maintained that Baghdad’s accusations of overproduction of oil are baseless. “Kurdistan is only producing 280,000 barrels per day, so how can Kurdistan be overproducing? Baghdad is attempting to shift blame onto Kurdistan for its own overproduction issues,” Barzani said.
As tensions between the KRG and Baghdad persist, the region’s oil disputes highlight deeper political and economic divisions that continue to strain relations in Iraq.
(Credit: Reuters | Agencies)
Copyright © 2025 The Insight International. All rights reserved
DAVOS,— Negotiations between Baghdad and British oil giant BP over a major redevelopment of Kirkuk’s oil and gas fields must include Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Kurdish caretaker Prime Minister Masrour Barzani told Reuters. The dispute underscores the ongoing tensions between Iraq’s central government and the Kurdish leadership over control of oil and gas resources.
Kirkuk, a region rich in hydrocarbons, remains at the heart of a long-standing conflict over natural resource management between the federal government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). The Kurds lost control of Kirkuk in 2017, after briefly seizing it during the fight against ISIS in 2014.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Barzani criticized the current deal being negotiated between Baghdad and BP. “The area that Baghdad is discussing with BP is a disputed territory. According to the Iraqi constitution, decisions regarding disputed territories cannot be made unilaterally by either Baghdad or Erbil,” he said.
While Barzani expressed openness to development in principle, he stressed that any deal must involve coordination with the KRG. “We are not against development, but we are against the mechanism being used,” he added, calling for a trilateral meeting involving the KRG, Baghdad, and BP.
A source familiar with the situation suggested that the KRG might independently meet with BP representatives to push for their involvement in the deal. The Kurds plan to use their strong ties with the U.S. government to apply pressure on both Baghdad and BP.
Baghdad and BP are reportedly close to signing a multi-billion-dollar agreement to redevelop four Kirkuk oil and gas fields, with an official signing anticipated by early February. However, Barzani labeled the potential agreement “unconstitutional,” even as he acknowledged the KRG’s limited ability to halt the deal.
Neither BP nor the Iraqi oil ministry immediately responded to Reuters’ requests for comment. Iraqi Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani previously stated that the Kirkuk deal could exceed the scale of a $27 billion oil project with TotalEnergies in Basra, which was signed in 2023.
The Kirkuk oil fields, first discovered in the 1920s by a BP-led consortium, hold an estimated 9 billion barrels of recoverable oil. BP also operates in southern Iraq, where it owns a 50% stake in the giant Rumaila oil field.
However, disagreements over oil are not limited to Kirkuk. A separate conflict has halted oil exports from the Kurdistan region since March 2023. Turkey suspended the flow of oil through the KRG’s pipeline after the International Chamber of Commerce ordered Turkey to pay $1.5 billion to Baghdad for unauthorized Kurdish oil exports between 2014 and 2018.
KRG officials say the region has lost more than $20 billion in revenue since the pipeline closure, with no compensation from Baghdad. Barzani criticized Iraq’s federal government for failing to resolve the issue. “Iraq never compensated that lost money to Kurdistan, and so far, there has been no solution,” he said.
Barzani also condemned a recent amendment introduced by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to a draft bill meant to address the issue, calling it “totally unacceptable” to the Kurds.
The oil dispute comes amid broader concerns over governance and transparency in the Kurdish region. Observers and Kurdish politicians accuse the KRG of conducting oil deals in a secretive and opaque manner.
Critics allege that billions of dollars in oil revenue remain unaccounted for, with watchdogs labeling Iraqi Kurdistan as one of Iraq’s most corrupt regions. Analysts point to a lack of effective oversight mechanisms that have allowed illegal financial activities to thrive.
The Barzani family, which has long dominated Kurdish politics, faces accusations of nepotism and misusing oil revenues for personal enrichment. Masrour Barzani serves as the region’s prime minister, while his cousin Nechirvan Barzani is president. Masrour’s father, Massoud Barzani, remains a highly influential figure in Kurdish politics.
Despite these challenges, the KRG has maintained that Baghdad’s accusations of overproduction of oil are baseless. “Kurdistan is only producing 280,000 barrels per day, so how can Kurdistan be overproducing? Baghdad is attempting to shift blame onto Kurdistan for its own overproduction issues,” Barzani said.
As tensions between the KRG and Baghdad persist, the region’s oil disputes highlight deeper political and economic divisions that continue to strain relations in Iraq.
(Credit: Reuters | Agencies)
Copyright © 2025 The Insight International. All rights reserved
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